Reality Check: The Agent Orange Effect

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BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. -- For many Vietnam veterans, the war still isn't over 45 years later because of lingering effects from Agent Orange.
Agent Orange was a mixture of herbicides used to kill jungle overgrowth to reveal their enemies' hiding places.
Veterans, their children, and even grandchildren are living with the sad consequences and many without compensation.
Ted Minnick, 69, of Black Mountain was raised in the Air Force and then laced up his own boots.
"When I went to Vietnam, I had been married two years and had a three-month-old daughter and served in Vietnam from July '69 to July '70," Minnick said.
With more than 39 years under his military belt, including more than seven years on active duty, Minnick has stories for days about the Army but not many of them have happy endings because of Agent Orange.
"It could have been anywhere. It's an aerosol spray and it goes all over. It kind of looked like a real thin maple syrup. I mean it was that color and that consistency," Minnick said. "There were over 300 pounds of dioxin sprayed over Vietnam in a short period of time."
Veterans and their families still can't escape Agent Orange even though the war is long over because of the health problems caused by it.
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